Podcasts about consulting success system how

This episode is part of the special series on Un-Retirement.Michael Zipursky is the CEO and co-founder of Consulting Success. He's kinda like a consultant for consultants.He helps business people run their businesses more efficiently and effectively. But more importantly, he specializes in helping people transition into a successful consultancy (or simply find more success as a consultant) by leveraging and marketing their expertise in an enormously crowded field.He is the author of five books, including The Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant and The Masters of Consulting Interviews. Michael also hosts the podcast The Consulting Success Podcast. Clearly, he is the person to talk about building a consulting practice!In this episode from the vault, Michael and I talk about what differentiates a consultant from a coach or another service provider, and he shares the six principles for running a successful consultancy.For all the links and show notes, head on over to http://secondbreaks.com

As a young child, Michael Zipursky recalls being surrounded by many different types of people, languages, and cultures. His family moved from Toronto to Israel when he was 2. They lived there for 4 years and then returned to Canada, this time to Vancouver, and again, he remembers being amongst people from different cultures and speaking many languages. So while it felt normal to a degree, Michael also felt like an outsider. He didn't speak English and worked hard to learn the language. Within himself, an early mindset was sparked that he needed to compete in order to stand out and prove himself. Michael channeled most of that by engaging in several team sports and martial arts. Fortunately, he was very skilled in them, but they also taught him that when you set your mind to something, as long as you're truly committed to it, there's no reason why you can't achieve it.  In college, Michael majored in Pacific Rim Business Studies, but he was unhappy about the restrictions within the curriculum and managed to negotiate his requirements so that he could take the courses he felt would better prepare him to do business in that region of the world. A very determined student and aspiring entrepreneur, Michael started a business while on a semester in Japan during his junior year, and the rest as they say… is history. Today, Michael is the CEO of Consulting Success. He has partnered with his cousin Sam Zipursky to create several businesses since they were teenagers. They’ve advised businesses in North & South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in over 30 industries. They are dedicated to teaching consultants the strategies of what works in the world of consulting. In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Michael’s journey:  Michael is the author of 5 books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and ACT NOW: How successful consultants thrive during chaos and uncertainty.  He's helped 400+ consultants globally in over 75 Industries, multiply their revenues. Learn more and connect with Michael here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zipursky/ https://www.facebook.com/ConsultingSuccessOfficial https://www.facebook.com/michaelzipursky @michaelzipursky @consultingbuzz https://www.consultingsuccess.com Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.tammygoolerloeb.com/podcasts/ - episode 102

Michael Zipursky has advised organizations and leaders in over 30 industries across multiple countries. He is an in-demand speaker and is the author of five books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and the Masters of Consulting Interviews. He is also a host of the Consulting Success Podcast. Whether you are just starting out in consulting or a veteran, Michael’s program at Consulting Success will help you develop a predictable pipeline of clients and increase your revenue 200 to 500 percent or more. Build a system that will attract your ideal clients, earn higher fees, and enjoy an amazing lifestyle. In today’s informational episode, Michael shares some of his best tips for achieving the goals you have as an entrepreneur. He shares these insights: Why persistence will bring you huge breakthroughs and how to build it How to get clear on your goals and why you shouldn’t deviate from them (it’s not about the money) How to find a right coach that help you to transform your success – (you’ll be surprised what to look for) Top Tips for getting comfortable by being uncomfortable – this is how to exponentially grow as a business owner How to manage change in your business and evaluate it to make great decisions to grow Read more about Michael’s coaching options, books, podcast, and other resources by visiting www.consultingsuccess.com learn more at his Consulting Success Official Facebook page, and follow Consulting Success on Twitter. Smash Your Income Glass Ceiling To Attract More Clients And Money… without doing more marketing! Click here for Free Video Training 

Michael Zipursky has consulted for organizations and advised leaders throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Middle East in over 30 industries, from service providers to billion dollar multi-national corporations including Panasonic, Dow Jones, Financial Times, Royal Bank and many others. Michael is an in-demand speaker and gives keynotes and workshops for the Certified Management Consultants Association, Canadian Internet Marketing Conference, Social Media Camp and others. Michael’s work has appeared in MarketingProfs, Huffington Post, Financial Times, FOX Business, Maclean's, HR Executive, Business Edge, Marketing Magazine and in several other media and publications. He is the author of 5 books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and the Masters of Consulting Interviews.

Michael Zipursky is the CEO of Consulting Success, and is a coach, consultant and author. Michael´s list of clients include organizations like Panasonic, Dow Jones, Financial Times, Royal Bank and many others. He has written 5 books including “Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want,” and “The Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant.” In today’s conversation, we talk about how to grow a successful coaching or consulting business. Michael imparts the four pillars of consulting success that are proven to add value for a client and create a sustainable consulting business that does not rely on its network. He also shares how to convert client consultations into long-term (and high-paying) clients, and how to handle initial intake / consultation calls, to get someone to make a decision on whether to hire you now, rather than waiting in limbo for a reply. If you are a coach or consultant, this is going to be one of those interviews you’ll want to come back to again and again. Enjoy! In this broadcast, Michael and I talk about: How Michael started several consultancies Why he switched from "doing" to "sharing" his experience via a blog How to approach a conversation with a client Advice for someone who wants to start a consultancy How Michael organizes marketing funnels for his clients to realize continual flow of clients Why client clarity, magnetic messaging, and ROI positioning creates the business you want The four pillars of creating a sustainable consulting business model How to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the market Why clients want to know what the "output" would be and how you can add value for them Why knowing your ideal client is important A critical message: people are not buying the deliverable; they are buying the results. How to conquer the client consultation calls And much more. How to Connect with Michael Zipursky Online: consultingsuccess.com Michael on LinkedIn Michael on Twitter Get the Latest Broadcasts of In The Trenches Subscribe to In The Trenches on iTunes How You Can Support In The Trenches Did you enjoy today's broadcast of In The Trenches? Please click here to leave an honest rating and review on iTunes. Your review helps me spread the word of this podcast, which allows me to line up amazing guests and continue to produce this podcast ad-free. Thanks so much in advance for your support.

Adam started out as an electrical apprentice while in college pursuing an electrical engineering degree. After 20 years in construction management, he decided to make the leap to consulting, as a way to give back to the construction and contracting community. He attributes his decision to make this transition into consulting, in part, to The Consulting Success System — How to Become a Successful Consultant. Adam has now been growing Ascent Consulting for three years. He calls these years a time of accelerated growth, a greater depth of understanding and a time to hone his skills of understanding as a consultant deliver and sell value and deliver top-quality projects to his clients. On this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast you’ll learn how to effectively grow your business in your area of expertise, how to transition from fee-based to a value-based pricing, and how to recognize when it’s time to start sharing your workload with employees so that you can continue focusing on the work that you do best.   Don’t Know What You’re Doing? Start Here. Successful consultants like Adam Cooper have been able to successfully navigate the path to consulting success by taking advantage of The Consulting Success System — How to Become a Successful Consultant, which you can learn more about here on the Consulting Success website. Adam is one of over 5,000 consultants around the world that have used our products to land more clients, earn a greater income, and streamline their consulting businesses to enjoy more time-off. Adam claims that when he started out, he didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to be doing or how he was going to do it. By taking advantage of our system and coaching program he was able to establish his path, improve his proposals, and get an advantageous head start to his consulting business. You can find the link to The Consulting Success System below, and learn more about how this system can help you take your consulting business to the next level.   Selling Yourself as a Consultant Prior to starting Ascent Consulting, Adam worked as a project manager for several large national construction companies throughout the United States. He was responsible for managing materials, labor, subcontractors, budgets, and more, but after 20 years in the construction business, he decided that it was time to make a change. Two of the greatest challenges that he initially faced as a new consultant were learning how to sell himself to clients, and how to price his work. Pricing is often one of the greatest hurdles that consultants have to overcome. Initially you may find yourself, like Adam, pricing out your time, rather than the value that your work is bringing to your clients. You’ll want to listen to Adam’s story as he explains how he figured out the best way to make the shift from time-based to value-based pricing.   One of the first things he did to help overcome this hurdle and correctly price his work was to take advantage of the Accelerator Coaching course that is available here on the Consulting Success website. He also read books including The Consulting Bible, that helped him learn how to sell value instead of time, and how to have sales and value-based conversations with clients upfront. Early on, Adam would have conversations with his clients based on the budget that they had, and then create an appropriately sized project from there. Now he knows that the first conversation he needs to have with his clients is what kind of value they will gain by taking on a project, and then to proceed from there to structure a deal that will deliver the value that they are seeking. Listen to our conversation to hear more about how you can make this approach work for you, too.   Trial and Error will Lead You to Six-Figure Projects When Adam wanted to start the value-based pricing model, he didn’t know exactly how to make it work best for him. He was reading consulting books and taking consulting courses, but he still had a lot to learn. He was getting used to hearing “no,” a lot. Adam realized he had to learn how to price his work in a way that was fair to his clients, and made sense for him as the consultant.   It is also essential to develop a working relationship with your clients. Assessment projects and limited-scope projects are a great way to build their trust and confidence in the work that you can do for them. You can start out with assessment projects, which might be worth $4,000 to $6,000. Next you can offer limited-scope projects, which can be worth up to $30,000 or $40,000.  These smaller projects are the ones that build a foundation of trust and greater confidence with your clients. They will see the value that your work is bringing to their company through increased sales opportunities, better employee morale, increased profitability, or well-designed marketing. The value of your contributions to their organization will be apparent in these smaller projects, and those small projects will lead to the bigger six-figure projects.   Don’t Give Up on Value Pricing It can be extremely discouraging for any consultant to hear the word “no,” but getting rejected once, twice, or even a dozen times, is not a valid excuse for giving up. Adam shares how he turns those rejections into learning opportunities, starting with going back to the businesses and asking them what he can do differently next time. An initial rejection from a company does not always mean that they have no interest in doing any business with you ever again. Often it simply means that something needs to be reworked so that things makes better sense for your client. You’ll want to hear how exactly he forms his questions so that he can improve his proposal and approach, to turn a rejection into another successful project.   Another essential tip to helping yourself through hearing the ‘nos,’ is to surround yourself with people who want to see you be successful. If you are truly committed to switching over to value-based pricing, you have to take the time to figure out exactly how it will work for you. Adam explains that he wasn’t willing to give up, but that he needed a support system to help him get over this steep learning curve. You’ll probably recognize at least one of the names that he mentions in the network of colleagues and friends that helped him get the success he was looking for.   Expand Your Staff to Maintain Your Free Time As your business grows, you will have to decide how much time you want to commit yourself to getting the work done. Chances are you didn’t leave a 40-hour workload behind to take on a 60-hour workload in your consulting business. As your projects and clients increase, it may be worth it to bring on employees to help lighten your task list, and help your business grow. Just nine months into getting his business up and running, Adam decided to bring additional help on to help him with the ever-increasing work that he was facing. Ascent Consulting is now a business of three, and Adam explains the various ways that his staff help him get his work done and his clients satisfied. He also shares two ways that he knew it was time to bring in help.   First, maintain a sense of scale-ability. You have to be realistic about the vision that you have for your consulting business, and your ability to get it there yourself. Adam knew that his company would only be able to grow so big if he kept working at it alone. For him, that was when it was time to bring in additional help. If you want to take on bigger and better projects than you can handle independently, then it will be worth it to increase your staff size so that your business dreams can be realized.   Second, Adam refers to an exercise that he and I worked on together, to help him identify the most valuable activities that he could be focusing on. He refers to it as the ‘10s’ activity. If you break down all of the tasks that must be completed in your business into their dollar value, you will see that some tasks are more valuable than others. Tasks that are worth $10 or $100 are the ones that can be delegated to someone else, so that you can focus on the tasks that are worth $1,000, $10,000, or more. By freeing up your schedule to dedicate more time to the most valuable tasks, you are taking a great step toward securing your company’s greatest success. If you are trying to convince yourself that you can do everything in your business by yourself but are constantly drowning in menial tasks, you will want to be sure to listen to Adam as he details how this exercise has worked for him in finding greater success at Ascent Consulting.   Schedule Down Time for Yourself and Your Clients Every consultant wants to get their business to the point that they can enjoy some down time, and on this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast, you’ll hear a variety of ways that Adam has made sure to take care of himself. From running and golfing to updating his website just for fun, Adam seems to have found the way to maximize his work-life balance. But he also shares great tips for turning work into pleasure by incorporating networking and relationship building into fun, starting with a monthly poker night with his clients. If that sounds like the kind of relationships that you are aiming to build with your clients, then you won’t want to miss out on his tips for scheduling time for fun. You’ll hear all about this and more on this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast with Adam Cooper.   Key Takeaways: [:23] An introduction of Adam and how he transitioned from project manager to consulting. [3:45] Adam’s greatest challenge, starting out, began with pricing his work. [6:34] A breakdown of time vs. value pricing structures. [8:02] Before you land a six-figure project, expect to hear a lot of ‘nos.’ [12:38] At what point should you bring additional help into your business? [17:14] Betting on a work-life balance. [19:20] How you can learn more about Ascent Consulting.   Mentioned in This Episode: Ascent Consulting The Consulting Success System 2.0 — How to Become a Successful Consultant Accelerator Coaching The Consulting Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-Figure Consulting Firm, by Alan Weiss Hubspot Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Consulting Success Community today: consultingsuccess.com

Adam started out as an electrical apprentice while in college pursuing an electrical engineering degree. After 20 years in construction management, he decided to make the leap to consulting, as a way to give back to the construction and contracting community. He attributes his decision to make this transition into consulting, in part, to The Consulting Success System — How to Become a Successful Consultant. Adam has now been growing Ascent Consulting for three years. He calls these years a time of accelerated growth, a greater depth of understanding and a time to hone his skills of understanding as a consultant deliver and sell value and deliver top-quality projects to his clients. On this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast you’ll learn how to effectively grow your business in your area of expertise, how to transition from fee-based to a value-based pricing, and how to recognize when it’s time to start sharing your workload with employees so that you can continue focusing on the work that you do best.   Don’t Know What You’re Doing? Start Here. Successful consultants like Adam Cooper have been able to successfully navigate the path to consulting success by taking advantage of The Consulting Success System — How to Become a Successful Consultant, which you can learn more about here on the Consulting Success website. Adam is one of over 5,000 consultants around the world that have used our products to land more clients, earn a greater income, and streamline their consulting businesses to enjoy more time-off. Adam claims that when he started out, he didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to be doing or how he was going to do it. By taking advantage of our system and coaching program he was able to establish his path, improve his proposals, and get an advantageous head start to his consulting business. You can find the link to The Consulting Success System below, and learn more about how this system can help you take your consulting business to the next level.   Selling Yourself as a Consultant Prior to starting Ascent Consulting, Adam worked as a project manager for several large national construction companies throughout the United States. He was responsible for managing materials, labor, subcontractors, budgets, and more, but after 20 years in the construction business, he decided that it was time to make a change. Two of the greatest challenges that he initially faced as a new consultant were learning how to sell himself to clients, and how to price his work. Pricing is often one of the greatest hurdles that consultants have to overcome. Initially you may find yourself, like Adam, pricing out your time, rather than the value that your work is bringing to your clients. You’ll want to listen to Adam’s story as he explains how he figured out the best way to make the shift from time-based to value-based pricing.   One of the first things he did to help overcome this hurdle and correctly price his work was to take advantage of the Accelerator Coaching course that is available here on the Consulting Success website. He also read books including The Consulting Bible, that helped him learn how to sell value instead of time, and how to have sales and value-based conversations with clients upfront. Early on, Adam would have conversations with his clients based on the budget that they had, and then create an appropriately sized project from there. Now he knows that the first conversation he needs to have with his clients is what kind of value they will gain by taking on a project, and then to proceed from there to structure a deal that will deliver the value that they are seeking. Listen to our conversation to hear more about how you can make this approach work for you, too.   Trial and Error will Lead You to Six-Figure Projects When Adam wanted to start the value-based pricing model, he didn’t know exactly how to make it work best for him. He was reading consulting books and taking consulting courses, but he still had a lot to learn. He was getting used to hearing “no,” a lot. Adam realized he had to learn how to price his work in a way that was fair to his clients, and made sense for him as the consultant.   It is also essential to develop a working relationship with your clients. Assessment projects and limited-scope projects are a great way to build their trust and confidence in the work that you can do for them. You can start out with assessment projects, which might be worth $4,000 to $6,000. Next you can offer limited-scope projects, which can be worth up to $30,000 or $40,000.  These smaller projects are the ones that build a foundation of trust and greater confidence with your clients. They will see the value that your work is bringing to their company through increased sales opportunities, better employee morale, increased profitability, or well-designed marketing. The value of your contributions to their organization will be apparent in these smaller projects, and those small projects will lead to the bigger six-figure projects.   Don’t Give Up on Value Pricing It can be extremely discouraging for any consultant to hear the word “no,” but getting rejected once, twice, or even a dozen times, is not a valid excuse for giving up. Adam shares how he turns those rejections into learning opportunities, starting with going back to the businesses and asking them what he can do differently next time. An initial rejection from a company does not always mean that they have no interest in doing any business with you ever again. Often it simply means that something needs to be reworked so that things makes better sense for your client. You’ll want to hear how exactly he forms his questions so that he can improve his proposal and approach, to turn a rejection into another successful project.   Another essential tip to helping yourself through hearing the ‘nos,’ is to surround yourself with people who want to see you be successful. If you are truly committed to switching over to value-based pricing, you have to take the time to figure out exactly how it will work for you. Adam explains that he wasn’t willing to give up, but that he needed a support system to help him get over this steep learning curve. You’ll probably recognize at least one of the names that he mentions in the network of colleagues and friends that helped him get the success he was looking for.   Expand Your Staff to Maintain Your Free Time As your business grows, you will have to decide how much time you want to commit yourself to getting the work done. Chances are you didn’t leave a 40-hour workload behind to take on a 60-hour workload in your consulting business. As your projects and clients increase, it may be worth it to bring on employees to help lighten your task list, and help your business grow. Just nine months into getting his business up and running, Adam decided to bring additional help on to help him with the ever-increasing work that he was facing. Ascent Consulting is now a business of three, and Adam explains the various ways that his staff help him get his work done and his clients satisfied. He also shares two ways that he knew it was time to bring in help.   First, maintain a sense of scale-ability. You have to be realistic about the vision that you have for your consulting business, and your ability to get it there yourself. Adam knew that his company would only be able to grow so big if he kept working at it alone. For him, that was when it was time to bring in additional help. If you want to take on bigger and better projects than you can handle independently, then it will be worth it to increase your staff size so that your business dreams can be realized.   Second, Adam refers to an exercise that he and I worked on together, to help him identify the most valuable activities that he could be focusing on. He refers to it as the ‘10s’ activity. If you break down all of the tasks that must be completed in your business into their dollar value, you will see that some tasks are more valuable than others. Tasks that are worth $10 or $100 are the ones that can be delegated to someone else, so that you can focus on the tasks that are worth $1,000, $10,000, or more. By freeing up your schedule to dedicate more time to the most valuable tasks, you are taking a great step toward securing your company’s greatest success. If you are trying to convince yourself that you can do everything in your business by yourself but are constantly drowning in menial tasks, you will want to be sure to listen to Adam as he details how this exercise has worked for him in finding greater success at Ascent Consulting.   Schedule Down Time for Yourself and Your Clients Every consultant wants to get their business to the point that they can enjoy some down time, and on this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast, you’ll hear a variety of ways that Adam has made sure to take care of himself. From running and golfing to updating his website just for fun, Adam seems to have found the way to maximize his work-life balance. But he also shares great tips for turning work into pleasure by incorporating networking and relationship building into fun, starting with a monthly poker night with his clients. If that sounds like the kind of relationships that you are aiming to build with your clients, then you won’t want to miss out on his tips for scheduling time for fun. You’ll hear all about this and more on this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast with Adam Cooper.   Key Takeaways: [:23] An introduction of Adam and how he transitioned from project manager to consulting. [3:45] Adam’s greatest challenge, starting out, began with pricing his work. [6:34] A breakdown of time vs. value pricing structures. [8:02] Before you land a six-figure project, expect to hear a lot of ‘nos.’ [12:38] At what point should you bring additional help into your business? [17:14] Betting on a work-life balance. [19:20] How you can learn more about Ascent Consulting.   Mentioned in This Episode: Ascent Consulting The Consulting Success System 2.0 — How to Become a Successful Consultant Accelerator Coaching The Consulting Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-Figure Consulting Firm, by Alan Weiss Hubspot Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Consulting Success Community today: consultingsuccess.com

Adam started out as an electrical apprentice while in college pursuing an electrical engineering degree. After 20 years in construction management, he decided to make the leap to consulting, as a way to give back to the construction and contracting community. He attributes his decision to make this transition into consulting, in part, to The Consulting Success System — How to Become a Successful Consultant. Adam has now been growing Ascent Consulting for three years. He calls these years a time of accelerated growth, a greater depth of understanding and a time to hone his skills of understanding as a consultant deliver and sell value and deliver top-quality projects to his clients. On this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast you’ll learn how to effectively grow your business in your area of expertise, how to transition from fee-based to a value-based pricing, and how to recognize when it’s time to start sharing your workload with employees so that you can continue focusing on the work that you do best.   Don’t Know What You’re Doing? Start Here. Successful consultants like Adam Cooper have been able to successfully navigate the path to consulting success by taking advantage of The Consulting Success System — How to Become a Successful Consultant, which you can learn more about here on the Consulting Success website. Adam is one of over 5,000 consultants around the world that have used our products to land more clients, earn a greater income, and streamline their consulting businesses to enjoy more time-off. Adam claims that when he started out, he didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to be doing or how he was going to do it. By taking advantage of our system and coaching program he was able to establish his path, improve his proposals, and get an advantageous head start to his consulting business. You can find the link to The Consulting Success System below, and learn more about how this system can help you take your consulting business to the next level.   Selling Yourself as a Consultant Prior to starting Ascent Consulting, Adam worked as a project manager for several large national construction companies throughout the United States. He was responsible for managing materials, labor, subcontractors, budgets, and more, but after 20 years in the construction business, he decided that it was time to make a change. Two of the greatest challenges that he initially faced as a new consultant were learning how to sell himself to clients, and how to price his work. Pricing is often one of the greatest hurdles that consultants have to overcome. Initially you may find yourself, like Adam, pricing out your time, rather than the value that your work is bringing to your clients. You’ll want to listen to Adam’s story as he explains how he figured out the best way to make the shift from time-based to value-based pricing.   One of the first things he did to help overcome this hurdle and correctly price his work was to take advantage of the Accelerator Coaching course that is available here on the Consulting Success website. He also read books including The Consulting Bible, that helped him learn how to sell value instead of time, and how to have sales and value-based conversations with clients upfront. Early on, Adam would have conversations with his clients based on the budget that they had, and then create an appropriately sized project from there. Now he knows that the first conversation he needs to have with his clients is what kind of value they will gain by taking on a project, and then to proceed from there to structure a deal that will deliver the value that they are seeking. Listen to our conversation to hear more about how you can make this approach work for you, too.   Trial and Error will Lead You to Six-Figure Projects When Adam wanted to start the value-based pricing model, he didn’t know exactly how to make it work best for him. He was reading consulting books and taking consulting courses, but he still had a lot to learn. He was getting used to hearing “no,” a lot. Adam realized he had to learn how to price his work in a way that was fair to his clients, and made sense for him as the consultant.   It is also essential to develop a working relationship with your clients. Assessment projects and limited-scope projects are a great way to build their trust and confidence in the work that you can do for them. You can start out with assessment projects, which might be worth $4,000 to $6,000. Next you can offer limited-scope projects, which can be worth up to $30,000 or $40,000.  These smaller projects are the ones that build a foundation of trust and greater confidence with your clients. They will see the value that your work is bringing to their company through increased sales opportunities, better employee morale, increased profitability, or well-designed marketing. The value of your contributions to their organization will be apparent in these smaller projects, and those small projects will lead to the bigger six-figure projects.   Don’t Give Up on Value Pricing It can be extremely discouraging for any consultant to hear the word “no,” but getting rejected once, twice, or even a dozen times, is not a valid excuse for giving up. Adam shares how he turns those rejections into learning opportunities, starting with going back to the businesses and asking them what he can do differently next time. An initial rejection from a company does not always mean that they have no interest in doing any business with you ever again. Often it simply means that something needs to be reworked so that things makes better sense for your client. You’ll want to hear how exactly he forms his questions so that he can improve his proposal and approach, to turn a rejection into another successful project.   Another essential tip to helping yourself through hearing the ‘nos,’ is to surround yourself with people who want to see you be successful. If you are truly committed to switching over to value-based pricing, you have to take the time to figure out exactly how it will work for you. Adam explains that he wasn’t willing to give up, but that he needed a support system to help him get over this steep learning curve. You’ll probably recognize at least one of the names that he mentions in the network of colleagues and friends that helped him get the success he was looking for.   Expand Your Staff to Maintain Your Free Time As your business grows, you will have to decide how much time you want to commit yourself to getting the work done. Chances are you didn’t leave a 40-hour workload behind to take on a 60-hour workload in your consulting business. As your projects and clients increase, it may be worth it to bring on employees to help lighten your task list, and help your business grow. Just nine months into getting his business up and running, Adam decided to bring additional help on to help him with the ever-increasing work that he was facing. Ascent Consulting is now a business of three, and Adam explains the various ways that his staff help him get his work done and his clients satisfied. He also shares two ways that he knew it was time to bring in help.   First, maintain a sense of scale-ability. You have to be realistic about the vision that you have for your consulting business, and your ability to get it there yourself. Adam knew that his company would only be able to grow so big if he kept working at it alone. For him, that was when it was time to bring in additional help. If you want to take on bigger and better projects than you can handle independently, then it will be worth it to increase your staff size so that your business dreams can be realized.   Second, Adam refers to an exercise that he and I worked on together, to help him identify the most valuable activities that he could be focusing on. He refers to it as the ‘10s’ activity. If you break down all of the tasks that must be completed in your business into their dollar value, you will see that some tasks are more valuable than others. Tasks that are worth $10 or $100 are the ones that can be delegated to someone else, so that you can focus on the tasks that are worth $1,000, $10,000, or more. By freeing up your schedule to dedicate more time to the most valuable tasks, you are taking a great step toward securing your company’s greatest success. If you are trying to convince yourself that you can do everything in your business by yourself but are constantly drowning in menial tasks, you will want to be sure to listen to Adam as he details how this exercise has worked for him in finding greater success at Ascent Consulting.   Schedule Down Time for Yourself and Your Clients Every consultant wants to get their business to the point that they can enjoy some down time, and on this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast, you’ll hear a variety of ways that Adam has made sure to take care of himself. From running and golfing to updating his website just for fun, Adam seems to have found the way to maximize his work-life balance. But he also shares great tips for turning work into pleasure by incorporating networking and relationship building into fun, starting with a monthly poker night with his clients. If that sounds like the kind of relationships that you are aiming to build with your clients, then you won’t want to miss out on his tips for scheduling time for fun. You’ll hear all about this and more on this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast with Adam Cooper.   Key Takeaways: [:23] An introduction of Adam and how he transitioned from project manager to consulting. [3:45] Adam’s greatest challenge, starting out, began with pricing his work. [6:34] A breakdown of time vs. value pricing structures. [8:02] Before you land a six-figure project, expect to hear a lot of ‘nos.’ [12:38] At what point should you bring additional help into your business? [17:14] Betting on a work-life balance. [19:20] How you can learn more about Ascent Consulting.   Mentioned in This Episode: Ascent Consulting The Consulting Success System 2.0 — How to Become a Successful Consultant Accelerator Coaching The Consulting Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-Figure Consulting Firm, by Alan Weiss Hubspot Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Consulting Success Community today: consultingsuccess.com

Michael Zipursky – Michael has consulted for and advised businesses throughout North America and Asia in over 23 industries, from service providers and financial publishers to billion dollar technology manufacturers. He is also the founder of Relagy Marketing, a lead-generation and marketing company. Michael’s work has appeared in the Financial Times, FOX Business, Maclean's, HR Executive, Business Edge Newspaper, Talent Zoo and in several other media and publications. He is the author of 5 books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and the Masters of Consulting Interviews. Michael speaks English and Japanese and loves traveling, jazz music, wines and foods of the world, and spending time with his family. Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelZipursky

Michael Zipursky – Michael has consulted for and advised businesses throughout North America and Asia in over 23 industries, from service providers and financial publishers to billion dollar technology manufacturers. He is also the founder of Relagy Marketing, a lead-generation and marketing company. Michael’s work has appeared in the Financial Times, FOX Business, Maclean's, HR Executive, Business Edge Newspaper, Talent Zoo and in several other media and publications. He is the author of 5 books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and the Masters of Consulting Interviews. Michael speaks English and Japanese and loves traveling, jazz music, wines and foods of the world, and spending time with his family. Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelZipursky

Michael Zipursky – Michael has consulted for and advised businesses throughout North America and Asia in over 23 industries, from service providers and financial publishers to billion dollar technology manufacturers. He is also the founder of Relagy Marketing, a lead-generation and marketing company. Michael’s work has appeared in the Financial Times, FOX Business, Maclean's, HR Executive, Business Edge Newspaper, Talent Zoo and in several other media and publications. He is the author of 5 books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and the Masters of Consulting Interviews. Michael speaks English and Japanese and loves traveling, jazz music, wines and foods of the world, and spending time with his family. Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelZipursky

Michael Zipursky – Michael has consulted for and advised businesses throughout North America and Asia in over 23 industries, from service providers and financial publishers to billion dollar technology manufacturers. He is also the founder of Relagy Marketing, a lead-generation and marketing company. Michael’s work has appeared in the Financial Times, FOX Business, Maclean's, HR Executive, Business Edge Newspaper, Talent Zoo and in several other media and publications. He is the author of 5 books including Profitable Relations: How to Dramatically Increase Your Profits By Giving Customers What They Really Want, the Consulting Success System: How to Become a Successful Consultant, and the Masters of Consulting Interviews. Michael speaks English and Japanese and loves traveling, jazz music, wines and foods of the world, and spending time with his family. Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelZipursky